Kara takes a deep breath and tells Sylnoa, “There’s something you need to know.” Sylnoa looks at her curiously. Kara says, “Sasha and I share the same soul. We are each part of a whole. When I look at her, I see, I see. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like looking at creation. I love her unconditionally. She is my life.” Kara pauses momentarily, “She sees the same when she looks at me. It’s unlike.” Sylnoa says, “I’ll ready myself.” She closes her eyes, trying to clear her thoughts and figure out what Kara is saying.
She opens her eyes. “I’m ready when you are. When we link, it will be different.” Kara asks, “How?” Sylnoa replies, “Until your Princess connects with you, you will share my mind in my body. It’s difficult to explain. I will pull back and give you control, then when your Princess connects with you, I will break the connection to you, but she will stay in control of me.”
Kara looks uneasy. Ava says, “This sounds a lot like how you described Azura wearing your body.” Sylnoa says, “You’ll be in complete control. You can break the link any time you want.” Ava says, “We’ll be here.” Kara nods, still uneasy. “Okay. What do I need to do?” Sylnoa says, “Relax, when you feel my mind touch your mind, just follow me. When you open your eyes, you will see yourself.” Kara sits on the ground, crosses her legs as if preparing for morning prayer, and closes her eyes. Sylnoa kneels in front of her. The ghostly image of Sylnoa appears in the dark, “Let go.” Kara opens her eyes and sees herself sitting beside Ava and Shae. She looks around, “This is weird.” She holds her arms out in front of her and runs a hand down her arm, then jumps at the sensation, “Will Sasha be able to move and feel, too?” Kara hears a voice in her mind, “Yes, and I can hear, feel, and see everything, too.” Kara stands in Sylnoa’s body; it’s shaky, weak, and not trained. Aran and Persi steady her. Sylnoa says in her mind, “I’m not as strong as you, so it will feel foreign to you. Don’t try to cast spells or use any of your abilities through me. They won’t work.” Then Kara feels Sasha come into her mind like a bull charging. Sylnoa breaks the link to Kara.
Sasha’s knees buckle, and Ambriel and Encarna catch her and stop her from falling, “Persival, what’s going on here?” She looks to her other side. It’s the half-orc Kara introduced as Aran. Looking at Persival, she sees Kara come to her knees in front of her, with the inferni girl, Ava, and the wild elf, Shae, on either side. Kara says, “Babe?” Sasha reaches out and is surprised to see her hands move. She is more surprised to feel Kara’s face when her hands touch Kara’s cheeks. Sasha grabs Kara and embraces her, “I don’t know what or how you’re doing this.” She kisses Kara several times on the cheeks. The inferni says, “You’re in a friend’s body; she has a talent. She's a mystic, like Khive.” Sasha doesn’t care. All anger is gone. Kara says, “I love you, Babe, but this is just a little weird. I know it’s you, but a friend is….” Sasha presses her lips against Kara’s. There is only the slightest moment of resistance before Kara returns the kiss. Everyone in the tent starts looking around and not directly at them. Finally, Ava says, “Your Highness, I know you two love each other,” Sasha releases the kiss and looks at Ava as Kara continues to float in euphoria, “You’re wearing another woman’s body.” Sasha says, “I don’t care.” Kara opens her eyes.
Kara says, “Welcome to our little home for the night.” Sasha looks around, and her eyes land on a shadow elf. Kara says, “This is Lines. He has sworn himself to me. Lines, meet Sasha Cinderblade, daughter of Raven Knight Thalos Cinderblade.” Lines drops to a knee and bows his head, “Your Majesty, I will protect Kara with my life.” Ava pulls out a mirror and shows Sasha her reflection. Sasha touches her face and looks down at her body, “This is so strange. At least she has red hair and is cute.” Kara says, “You’re in Sylnoa’s body. She has a different affinity than Khive with psychic powers. It’s a funny story,,,” Sasha presses her lips into Kara a second time. This time, everyone stays quiet until Sasha finishes, “I better not catch you kissing her without me in this body.” Sasha hears a giggle in her mind, then a voice, “I promise I won’t, and I don’t mind being cute.”
Kara opens her eyes a few moments later, “I promise, Babe.” Sasha finally steps back, “If any of you tell this story, I will send my handmaidens for you. Now, what’s going on?” Kara says, “As I said, I fucked up Babe. It won’t happen again. Everyone in here will make sure of that. I Knighted Persi officially and surrendered my authority to him.” Sasha shakes her head, “You what?” Kara smiles, “Sir Persival Lonepeak is in charge of our company. Sylnoa, the woman’s body you are in, is helping me deal with whatever is going on. Just trust me, please; I won’t charge off on my own anymore; I won’t even involve myself in a fight if I don’t have to.” Sasha looks at Kara as if she knows something much worse has happened. She looks at Ava, “Since she won’t tell me…” Kara steps in front of Ava, “Please don’t force her to; just trust me and trust them. Camiella is fine, I’m fine. We freed eleven people from a horrible fate and probably saved more in the future thanks to Sylnoa.” Sasha walks over to the tent door and pulls it open just enough to see outside.
Persi says, “A late winter storm blew in, Your Highness; we’ll shelter here until it’s safe to travel again.” Sasha looks at him, “Sir Persival, I’m trusting my wife’s life to you. Do you understand the weight of that?” Persival goes to a knee, “I do, Your Highness. I, no, we will get her home.” Sasha says, “I expect to see all of you home.”
Sasha walks over to Aran and touches his cheek. “You’re defiant.” Aran looks around at every one, unsure. “I like that. Don't do it when she tells you to do something that doesn’t feel right.”
She steps over to Ava. Ava goes to a knee, “I see her in you. Protect her. You’re willing to sacrifice yourself for her or your friends.” Ava beams at being compared to Kara.
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She touches Shae’s cheek. “I already see you will sacrifice yourself to protect her. Don’t be too hasty; she has a way of coming out the other side smelling of roses.” Shae smiles. “Shae will protect Kara no matter what.” Sasha says, “You remind me of Rinwauld. There is no one I trust more.”
Sasha steps over to Lines, places a finger on his chin, and lifts his head so he’s looking at her, “You, I expect you to protect her in life and follow her into death if you have to.” Lines says, “Life to death Your Majesty.”
Sasha looks in the mirror, “Help my girl, she is stubborn.” Sasha hears a voice, “I’ll do my best.”
Kara says, “You know about all of us, what about Nexus, what’s going on at home?”
Sasha grabs Kara again for a shorter kiss and holds her while she can, “Anya says Nexus is alive but hurt. We are trying to find a way to heal it. As for the casualties, it would be easier to say who lived through it all, but don’t any of you worry about that now. Some dwarves have moved into the mines nearby and reclaimed their ancestral home; Felicity has moved in with them and is working the forges from there. It should be very profitable. I’ve dispatched ambassadors to the local fishing village and will be dispatching them to the local cities soon to establish relations and supply chains. There is an adventuring company working with us on those matters.”
Kara asks, “What about the Guardians?” Sasha shakes her head, “Lost; we don’t know what happened to them; they haven’t contacted us. I don’t expect them to at this point.” Kara says, “I went for Cubbie at Mave’s, but she was gone. Chasing after Nexus. I haven’t… I think she took a different route.” Sasha replies, “I’ve tried several Sendings to her but she never responded. She has had good teachers. I trust she is following the clues and working her way home.”
Sasha says, “Let’s just hold each other with the time we have left for now. The next time I want to scry I’ll Send to Sylnoa, now that I know her.” Kara and Sasha sit on the furs against each other while everyone whispers on the other side of the tent. Kara whispers to Sasha, “They are a good group, Babe, the best I’ve been with in fifteen years.” Sasha smiles, then closes her eyes and collapses into Kara’s lap. Kara checks Sylnoa; she seems fine but completely exhausted.
Sasha falls back from the table. High Priestess Avvaran catches her under the arms. Anya drags a chair over for Avvaran to sit Sasha in. Anya asks, “Are you right? That didn’t seem normal.” Avvaran says, “That didn’t feel normal.” Sasha shakes her head, “There was nothing normal about that. That was so exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. I was in another woman’s body. She allowed me to wear her. I had all her senses. What did I do here? Anya says, “You just stood there, your eyes closed, didn’t move or say a word.”
Sasha says, “The woman I connected to is a mystic, like Khive. I didn’t know they could do that.” Avvaran says, “I’ve heard of some that can do that. Khive never said she or even hinted that she could. We’ve never understood much about them. There are so few. But we connected to Kara.” Sasha says, “I felt her for an instant, then she slipped out. I think Sylnoa was allowing Kara to wear her, waiting for me. Whatever they did, I liked it, and Sylnoa agreed to allow me to connect with her as long as I let her know I’m coming.”
Anya says, “You understand that this Sylnoa can probably see into your mind as easily as opening a book while you’re connected like that, correct?” Sasha nods, “I’ll see if there is some way to establish barriers or at least know if she’s looking somewhere she shouldn’t the next time.” Anya says, “I don’t like this. I think love is clouding your judgment.” Sasha says, “Then see if there is anything left in the library about them.” Anya says, “Unfortunately, the library is in shambles… I’ll get on getting it organized.”
Persi sets up the watch for the night with himself, Aran, Lines, Shae, and Ava taking turns for shorter watches. Other than brushing the snow off the tent and horses, it passes quietly. The snow stops sometime before dawn with about a foot on the ground. Sylnoa opens her eyes just before dawn, with Ava sitting in front of her, staring at her, and Kara softly snoring in her ear.
Ava whispers, “Now I trust you.” Sylnoa whispers back, “Thank you.” Kara squeezes Sylnoa and kisses her ear, then opens her eyes, “Oh shit, I’m so sorry, I, I, was…” Ava and Sylnoa cover their mouths and quietly laugh at Kara. Ava allows Sylnoa to connect to her for the prayers, and once again, Sylnoa enters a state of euphoria. When they finish, she looks at Ava and Kara, “How do you not just get trapped in that feeling? It’s like a drug?” Ava looks at Sylnoa with a big grin, “I know, right?” Kara shrugs, “I don’t think Elirae would allow us to.” Kara peaks outside while Ava pours an elixir on the rock to heat it and start breakfast. Lines and Shae sit quietly, still meditative but watching them. Kara says to Sylnoa, “Thank you for last night. I hope it didn’t get too weird for you.” Sylnoa laughs, “Oh no, that was wonderful. It didn’t get weird until this morning.” Kara blushes, “You’re mean.” Aran and Persi start waking up. Persi asks, in the middle of a yawn, “What’s it look like out there.” Kara says, “I don’t think we’re going anywhere today. We’re going to be cozy for a little while longer.”
Shae stands, stretches, then walks outside barefooted. Everyone waits for her to return, high-stepping and laughing about forgetting her shoes, but she doesn’t. Kara looks out, and Shae gives the horses bags of oats and brushes them. Kara shrugs and sits down next to the rock. She asks everyone, “Are all of you okay with what happened last night?” Aran turns a slight shade of red, and everyone nods. Persi says, “I know you and the Princess were, how shall I say this? Very happy to be able to see and touch. Maybe the next time she scrys, we can give you more privacy.”
This time Sylnoa covers her head with a blanket, “Oh, gods.” Kara says, “I won’t let anything go too far. I promise. It surprised me, too.” Aran slips on his boots, “I’m going to help Shae before she gets frostbite.” Aran hops out of the tent with one boot on and trying to get the other boot on. Kara looks at Sylnoa when she peaks out from under the blanket, “Maybe we can get naked for the next time.” Sylnoa disappears under the blanket again as everyone laughs. When they calm down, Kara pulls the blanket from Sylnoa’s face, “Seriously, thank you for doing that. You don’t know how much that meant to me.” Ava slides over to Sylnoa, leans up against her, and whispers, “Do you think you can,,, maybe…” Sylnoa holds Ava’s hands, nodding. She keeps looking at Kara.
Kara says, “What?” Sylnoa shakes her head, “It’s amazing. Looking at you through Sasha’s eyes, you seem to glow, not with an aura. It’s something different. I could feel her connection to you, her love. I didn’t notice before, but Sasha sees stars in your eyes. Your smile sets her on fire. You are right about it being unconditional. I’ve never felt anything like that. It is indescribable. Gods, I wish I could find someone like that.”
Shae yells, “Friends! You may want to see this.” Kara is the first out, still barefooted, followed by everyone else crowding through the door.